Drum cleaning machine



Jan. 1, 1935.

A. S. JOHNSON DRUM CLEANING MACHINE Filed Sept. 13, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR BY Ebnmwfi-Dww PM ATTORNEY Jan. 1, 1935. A, JOHNSON 1,986,204

DRUM CLEANING MACHINE INVENTOR M ATTORNEY Jan. 1, 1935. A. s. .JOHNSON 1,986,204

DRUM CLEANING MACHINE Filed Sept. 15, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Ala S INVENTOR BY 5 I "5 19 441 ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 1, 1935 DRUM CLEANIN G- MACHINE Asa S. Johnson, Paulsborm N J.',1 assignor cto I Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, Incorporated,

New York, N.-Y'.-, a'corporation of NewYork Application September 13,1932, senai 1v632p30 r "s-claims (CL-141%6') I When a steel drum orbarrel; such as is used in shipping petroleum products; is returned for re-use, it is necessarytoclean it' inside, and this is vcommonly,- done byiintro'ducing, together with water and detergent material, a' length of chain, and-then reciprocating and rotating thedrum tovcause'the chain-to slide over the inner surfaces-with a-scouring'actiom. T vi 1 To facilitate cleaning" by this 'method, 1 machines have \been used which'are provided with meanswforiholding a 'drum'in either-vertical or horizontal position; for rotating it about its longitudinal-axis and for'reciprocating it in a genera'llyj horizontal Idirection along a straight or antarcuate path. I .7 invention relates to machines of the type in question. One object-of the invention is to produce a machine of rugged and powerful construction, in which the reciprocating movejmentsv are' controlled by swinging links which support the barrel 'and its carrier with a minimum-of strain and of friction? Another object :ofstheinvention is to produce amachine which impart to. the drum 'a' combination of reciprocating and tilting :mOV-em'ents which-"has been found to be particularly effective in clean ing the-bilge or longitudinalsurface of the drum. To the -.foregoing ends the invention consists in the. machine hereinafter described, and illustratedxin the accompanying drawingsyas it is defined 'ini'the'iannexedclaims;

Intthe accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of. raidrum cleaning machine embodying thepresent-invention, with parts of the frame broken away to. Show the mechanism more clear-- ly;.::Fig. 2 is anend elevation of the same machine, lookingfromrighttoileft in Fig. 1;. Fig. 3 is a partial side "elevatiomin section on line 3-3 in Fig.2 2; Fig. 4.-. is a detail viewin sectionof the line Fig. 2; Fig 5 is a general plan view of'the machine; and Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view 'on the'line' 6''6 in Fig; .1.

In the illustrated machine, a drum or barrel 10 which is to be cleaned is'mounted within an oblong. frame .llwliich, together with the parts associated with it, may be designatedas the drum carrier. The drum is held in place by end plates 12 and 13, which are slightly recessed to fit the ends of the drum. The end plate 12 is fixed on a short shaft 14. journaled in the end of the carrier 11, while the end plate 13 is pivoted on the end of a stem 15, which slides but does not turn in a bearing in the carrier.

The sliding movement of the stem 15 is to permit the introduction and removal of the drum,

ends; with-the carrierfathrough a link-17.

Parallel lever arms 16 are pivoted',"atlone"'end,

to the stemlti= and connected, at their other To one'of the arms- 16 a long 'arm or'handlever 18 is attached, by which the operator. may 'move the arms "16 and the stem 15 toraise the' end plate'13 from the drum, or to drawit down tightly against the-drum." To lock the drum in place, means are provided for'retaining. the 'lever arms 16 in the required position; For this pur I pose a 'steml9is-rarranged to slide through the end of the-carrier and between'the'arms ,16,-'and the stem is provided with a cross arm or lever 20 at itsouter end, and with anut 21 threaded? on its inner end: The lever arm 20 may be swung to the position showninxthe-broken lines' in Fig; 2, in whichcase it lies betweenthe'arms 16 and permits them to' be moved-outwardly. When the arm 20 isswung to the-position'of Figs. 3 and5, however, it crosses the arms 16 "and thus locks them in aposition determinedby the nut 21. This nut-'mayJbe adjusted according .to': the di mensions of the drum 'up'onuwhich the machine is to operate. '7

The drum carrier is supported in a structure which may be designatedias a cradle andvwhich comprises anuprightU-shaped member '22 spanning the carrier. At its ends'this memberis provided with pivot studs 23fa'nd 24,; uponwhich thedrum carrier ispivoted at the-mid'points of'its side members. 7 Lif The cradlecomprises a second'Ueshaped mem-' ber 25' integral'with thefirst; and diagonal mem'- bers 26 at the sides 'rigidly'connecting'.the*members 22 and 25; The weight, of the (cradle, the drum carrier and the drum is supported by two links 2'7'which are'provided, at their lower ends, with' pivot studs engaging bearings in the sides of 'the 'cradle member'22. :The .upper' ends of the links 27 are pivoted on a horizontal cross rod 29 connecting two stationary frame members 30 which support" the several parts of the 'machine. In order that the angular. position of the icradle mayzbe controlled, a'second 'pair'of links 3 1"isconnected to the rearipartof the cradle member 25 by pivot studs 32, and the upper ends of the links 31 are pivoted'on a cross rod 33 connecting the frame members 30.

The necessary reciprocating or oscillating motion is imparted to the cradle, the carrier and the drum by mechanism actuated by an electric motor 34. This motor is connected, through suitable gearing, with a power shaft 36 carrying two crank plates 35, and the crank pins 3'7 on he plates actuate two pitmen 38, of which the but curved upwardly toward each end. While the links 31, as shown, are of the same length 7 as the links 2'7, their upper ends are pivoted at a lower point, and the distance between the pivot rods 29 and 33 is greater than that between the pivotal points 24 and 32. There is therefore produced a linkage such that the arc of motion of the links 31 is mainly infront of the vertical plane of the pivotal axis 33, so that the pivot studs 32 descend when moving to the left (as shown in Fig. 1) and rise when moving to the'right. The result of this movement is a slight tilting of the cradle, the carrier and the drum, such that when the cradle is in its extreme forward or right hand position it is tilted forwardly, as shown in Figs. 1 and'3, while at the opposite extreme of the reciprocating movement it isltilted in the opposite direction. This combination of horizontally reciprocating and tilting movements has been found very effective, when the drum is in the position of Fig. 3, in causing the chain to traverse the inner surface of the drum from end toendr Y I I In order that both the end surfaces and the lateral or bilgersurfacesof the drum may be cleaned, the machine is arranged to permit the barrel and its carrier to be moved to and held in either horizontal position, as in Fig. 3, or vertical position as in Figs; 1 and 2. Movement from one position to the otheris permitted by the pivotal mounting of the carrier on the studs 23 and 24, and the carrier is retained in the desired position bylocking'mechanism', At each end of the carrier is a lock lug 40 perforated to receive lock bolts 41 and slidingly mounted in themembers22 and 25 of the cradle. As shown in Fig. 2, the bolt 41, which is spring pressed to operative position, is connected, through a lever 42 and a 'rod43, with a hand lever 44 mounted to turn loosely on the pivot stud 23. By movement of this lever the lock bolt may be retracted when the carrier isito' be swung upon its pivots. The lock bolt 45 is similarly connected, through means including a rod '46, with the hand lever 44, so that either bolt maybe retracted by the same means. p

During the operation of the machine it is necessary'that the drum be rotated slowly to permit engagement of the chain with'all parts of its inner surfaces. For this purpose the shaft 14 which supports the 'end plate 12 is connected, by bevel gears 4'7, with a shaft 48 journaled on the carrier, and the shaft 48 is connected, through a chain 49, with a sprocket-wheel'50 turning loosely on the pivot stud 24, A ratchetwheel 51 is fixed to the hub of the sprocket-wheel and cooperates with a spring-pressed pawl 52 which is mounted on a lever 53 pivoted loosely on the hub of the sprocket-wheel. A link 54 is pivoted at one end, to lever 53 and its other end is pivoted on a rod 55 extending between the links 31. In consequence of this arrangement the swinging movements of the links 31 cause rocking movements of the lever 53, and this movement, through the operation of the pawl, results in intermittent rotative movements imparted to the end plate 12 and the drum.

It will be apparent that the suspension of the 1 reciprocating members upon depending links permits these parts, and the drum, to move with a pendulum-like motion, so that they may be actuated without shock or strain and with a minimum expenditure of power. This arrangement also permits the drum to be supported at a point near the floor on which the machine rests, so that handling of the drum is facilitated in introducing it into, and removing it'from the machine.

The invention claimed is:

1. In a drum-cleaning machine, the combination of drum-holding'means including a cradle with a-rearwardly-extending part, a link pivoted, at its lower end, to the forward part of the cradle and pivotally supported at its upper end, mechanism for oscillating said link through an are substantially equally divided by the line of the link when vertical, and a second link pivoted, at its lower end, to saidrearwardly extending part of the cradle, the upper endof the second link being pivotally supported at a point such that the oscillating movements of the second link are, for the most part, in front of the vertical position of said link.

2. In a drum-cleaning machine, the combination of drum-holding means for supporting a drum with its longitudinal axis in a generally horizontal position, power-operated oscillating supporting mechanism to which said drum-holding means is pivotally attached on a transverse horizontal axis and by which said axis is caused to move through an upwardly'concave curved path, and means, connected with said drum-holding means, for tilting the same upon said transverse axis, during each oscillation, in a direction to depress the advancing end of the drum.,

; 3. In a drum-cleaning machine, the combination of drum-holding'means for supporting a drum with its longitudinal axis in a generally 

